First and foremost, tbn is about information. I consider myself a smart guy complete with engineering degree from an Ivy League institution (my wife often says I'm too smart for my own good

). Anyway, my "intellegence" is dwarfed by the amount of information available on tbn. I'm currently in my company's six sigma expert (blackbelt) program. One of the principles of six sigma is turning data into information. A simple example - anybody can read specs of different tractors - 30HP, 2,000# etc. tbn turns that "data" into information - ie if you are going to primarily use the machine for mowing, go for high HP & low weight. If you are doing more ground engaging work, a heavier machine will perform better.
I recently took a seminar on
social networing short definition - it's not what you know, it's who you know that matters - well I'm here to say that tbn is the best "who" I've found in the world. The knowledge base here goes far beyond tractors, I've personally received help on my various home improvement projects, HVAC, and even central vacuum attachments (thanks thrci). tbn has so many "subject matter experts" whether it be Madref on hydraulics, wharv on fencing/welding, jinman on class III boomers, 3RRL on extreme tractor mods, or Bird & Egon as general statesmen. I'm sure I've left out many more.
Once you've been here awhile you realize that tbn is a great community as well. Much more neighborly than my actual neighborhood. A couple years back I purchased a WW grinder
chipper/shredder. I broke the chipping knives. The company has gone out of business. Being the engineer that I am, I sketched up a drawing of the knives & went to a couple local machine shops to have them fabricated. It was going to cost me more than I paid for the
chipper to have them fabbed. Madref machined the parts for little more that the cost of the tool steel. Alan0043 heat treated them for free! The kicker, they weren't the only memebers offering to help me out. Thanks guys.
I know that I will never be able to give back as much as I have received, but I do my best. What goes around, comes around (literally). Recently a member who has the same model WW grinder
chipper that I broke was looking for the operator's manual. I was able to scan mine & email it to him.
I was honored when I got a PM from Muhammad asking if I would help out as a moderator. I'm proud to say that 95% of what we do as moderators is "clerical" work - deleting a duplicate post, moving a thread to the proper forum etc.
TBN is the best "place" on the web period.